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Macaroni and cheese is one of the comfort foods that will be featured at The Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise this weekend.      

Attendants of this year’s Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise can enjoy home-cooked meals for a low price

The third annual Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise plans to not only bring comfort to attendees who will get to sample food from twelve different restaurants, but also for those less fortunate in the surrounding area.

The Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise aims to show visitors what Southern Ohio does best — food that makes people feel good.

Starting this weekend, the Hocking Hills Tourism Association will sponsor a self-guided car cruise in which participants will sample different comfort-food menu items at 12 restaurants for a ticket price of $18. Each participant will drive themselves to each restaurant at their leisure and the event will take place for the three consecutive weekends. 

The locations are spread apart so as participants do the cruise they get a nice tour of the Hocking Hills area, Karen Raymore, the executive director of the Hocking Hills Tourism Association, said.

“Mac and cheese will always be one of the comfort foods offered,” she said.

Raymore said because mac and cheese is a popular item every year, they give each restaurant a chance to put their own spin on the dish. This year, the Hocking Hills State Park Dining Lodge will be serving mac and cheese with beef brisket in it, which Raymore described as “to die for.”

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Sandy Watrus, owner of Pearl’s Diner in Logan, Ohio, said they have participated in the event for all three years. Pearl’s is known for its biscuits and gravy, which they will serve during the event.

“We love (the Comfort Food Cruise),” Watrus said. “We love the fast pace of it — the business of it.”

Both Raymore and Watrus said it’s funny to watch the people participate in the event because they typically make friends along the way who are participating in the cruise.

Watrus said the cruise gives people an opportunity to check out their restaurant and sample the food and the atmosphere.

Each restaurant does not provide a full-sized portion, however Raymore said they are hearty size. She added that one ticket is good for all six days of the cruise so participants can take their time to enjoy the food.

Raymore said they realize it is the new year and people often make new year's resolutions to stay healthy. However, she said there is an easy solution for people to be able to enjoy the cruise and stay fit.

“You don’t have to have any guilt,” she said. “Because any time along the way you can stop at any number of places and take a hike.”

The Comfort Food Cruise was established three years ago because Raymore said the Hocking Hills Tourism Association wanted to create an event to bring people to the Hocking Hills region during the winter without it being completely weather dependent.

“Hocking Hills is not the gourmet foodie destination that Columbus or Cleveland is,” Raymore said. “But one thing we do really well around here is comfort food.”

The event is also helping out a charity, as $5 of every ticket sold goes toward the Hocking Hills food pantry. Raymore said it’s an important time of year for the food pantry because people tend to donate the most during the holidays and not during the cold weeks of winter where there is a lack of farm fresh produce available for those in need.

“That’s my personal favorite part,” Raymore said. “It’s helping bring comfort to somebody else.”

@_alexdarus

ad019914@ohio.edu

 

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